Orion Style Mainhalls [NEW BETA THREAD]

I was getting tired of keeping track of where things were in the old thread, so I'm starting a new one. To start off, here's a brand new Beta release. Downloads are below the screenshots. I'll be using this thread to go from this beta to final releases.

Notes

These are completely modular VPs. You can install as many or as few as you wish. They are also entirely additive. Meaning they will not remove anything from the mod they are loaded in. Add VP, reference the mainhall in the campaign file and you are good to go.

The Bastion mainhalls take full use of some new code that will be play misc anims (cranes, smoke, etc.) randomly.. so you'll have a bit of variation actually.

Krios and Soyakaze have no misc anims yet.

THESE ARE NOT FINISHED!

What's New

I've made almost an entirely new sound pack for the Orion style mainhalls.

Officer models added to all mainhalls.

Marine models added to all mainhalls.

Characters added to briefing room behind Galatea ready room door.

The last few misc anims have been added to Galatea.

Mainhalls now share a sound pack so that FSO doesn't lose sounds to memory when moving through multiple mainhalls in a single instance of FSO. NEW!

I recommend creating a new mod folder to place these in, I have them in 'freespace2/mainhall testing'.

I also recommend creating a new pilot. Once FSO is loaded, you will be given the standard FS2 Aquitaine mainhall. Go to the Campaign Room. You will see a list of all the beta mainhalls you decided to install. Click on one to load that mainhall. (Note: the campaigns are just empty campaigns.)

The mainhalls take advantage of a new naming option. That means that to use them in FSPort or ST:R, you will need to alter the campaign file in question. The old way uses mainhall index numbers, so you'll see something like '+Main Hall: 0' or '+Main Hall: 1' in them for each mission. You'll need to replace the number with the name of the new mainhall... like '+Main Hall: Galatea B'. However, these are incomplete beta releases. Once they are finished I'll include edited campaign files with them for popular/requested campaigns.

Feedback

I'm interested in thoughts/opinions on the sounds, especially how they are working and their timing with the animations. I'm also interested in "benchmarks", specifically with Bastion. How long are you waiting for it to load up? I'd also like to know if you see any artifacts around moving objects (like the cranes in Bastion).

I also wasn't entirely sure what levels to mix the new sounds at since anyone can change the effects-music volume ratio in FSO easily. So I mixed at my settings, hoping it's a good compromise. I'd like to know about sounds that are too quiet or too loud and what your volume settings are.

Re: Orion Style Mainhalls [NEW BETA THREAD]

Sweeet... I have to reiterate that we all really appreciate your contributions to the community mjn, a redo of the cutscenes and anims is something I would never have expected (though perhaps hoped) and your work here is pro. When I think of where I wish I could be on FSO/FSU had I the time and ability, I think of you (... and others as well obviously, but importantly you).

Longest load time for me was 3 seconds, didn't really see any obvious graphical errors, but I'm no expert at that. The big fluoro-like lights have a bit of hard pixels on them, some ant-aliasing would be nice. Perhaps I'm too used to the sun being the only light source, but I kind of miss the specular maps in-game on the ships here. I'm looking forward to the F1 help option being custom made for every mainhall as well. The characters look a little weird, you can only see them from a distance off (except for welder-man, he's cool) but the light comes off them a little oddly, as if they're made of plastic (though this being the future, plastic body armour on all personnel is anything but impossible). I don't know what those bastion dudes are talking about, but I'd imagine them either more relaxed posture-wise, or more stiff gesture-wise, their movements at the moment almost seem too fluid. That extra door on the soyakaze (mess hall) confused me for all of half a second; "it should do something shouldn't it?" Are there marines in the FS1 mainhalls, or is that only the Aquitaine? I mentioned before that the guy on the cherry picker brakes almost instantly and ends up exactly where he wants to be which I don't really like. Not sure if it would actually be better, but the fighters fly past the window on very straight paths, maybe if they had a little bank on them and didn't travel exactly along the x-axis (or from side of window to side of window perfectly horizontally) they might have that much more interest. At the ends of the... landings? where those loki fighters are sitting is a bright band of yellow and black stripes to warn people from walking off the edge, however, there's a great big ladder sitting right on top of them, the only way you can enter the fighters is by walking perilously close to a rather high drop, and imagine if you were in a hurry.

Re: Orion Style Mainhalls [NEW BETA THREAD]

I suppose now's as good a time as any to make this clear. The animations, materials, lighting, or whatever may not be perfect... and you guys can comment on that if you wish. However, it takes days to render most of the animations in these mainhalls. Days. There would have to be some pretty major errors for me to spend that much time re-rendering some of these animations.

Artifacting is different because that is almost always due to transparency added later. That I can fix much more easily.

Three seconds to load the Bastion mainhall is par for the course. I'm not seeing the "hard pixels" you are talking about. I'm guessing you mean the light casting on the bump mapping. That looks exactly how I want it to look.

Marines and Officers are still on the way. They will be added shortly, I think.

Also, people of the future have better balance... just like how cherry pickers of the future are faster and have computerized braking systems. Everyone knows this.

Re: Orion Style Mainhalls [NEW BETA THREAD]

Krios mainhall updated. Now includes animated Officer character. There was some discussion about the dude in the Aquitaine mainhall being the only black dude left in FS. I disagreed with this theory, and so to combat this ridiculousness I've added Marcus (Officer variant). He's 6'3", 210lbs, and the top of his graduating class. He enjoys studying the history of star systems, especially Procyon A, in his free time. Also, he's single.

More seriously, a downside to higher resolution and clearer mainhalls is that it will be pretty obvious that I'm reusing character models all over the place. Deal with it.

Re: Orion Style Mainhalls [NEW BETA THREAD]

To consider the Earth as the only populated world in infinite space is as absurd as to assert that in an entire field of millet, only one grain will grow. - Metrodorus of ChiosI wept. Mysterious forces beyond my ken had reached into my beautiful mission and energized its pilots with inhuman bomb-firing abilities. I could only imagine the GTVA warriors giving a mighty KIAAIIIIIII shout as they worked their triggers, their biceps bulging with sinew after years of Ivan Drago-esque steroid therapy and weight training. - General Battuta

Re: Orion Style Mainhalls [NEW BETA THREAD]

I've updated Soyakaze and both Bastion variants to include the Officer model at the options desk. You can see them in the screenshots about and download the new packs if you wish.

Galatea is going to take a little more work. The Officer is much closer to the camera.. so I have to actually rig him correctly. I can't cut all the same corners I did for the others. Hair is also kind of an issue.

Furthermore, thanks to Oddgrim... you can expect to see the Marines in the mainhalls next week too. When that's done, Bastion will be more than complete with Galatea close behind. Yes, that's right. I might actually finish this project.

Re: Orion Style Mainhalls [NEW BETA THREAD]

All mainhalls now include an Officer model. Also, this new build is required to run these. This build changes how EFF animations are handled. The Bastion mainhall should load much faster and can use all animations now!

Re: Orion Style Mainhalls [NEW BETA THREAD]

Alright, after a marathon of working, rendering, tweaking, testing, etc... the mainhalls have reached the biggest milestone to date.

The all have officers manning the options desk, and they all have marines guarding two doors. BAM. With that, Bastion is fully completed. Galatea has all the pieces from the retail version. I want to add a few things to take advantage of new mainhall features, then it will be complete also.

Soyakaze and Krios require full sets of misc anims each.. so the will still take some time. However, the best part is that I'm no longer waiting on character models for these.

EDIT: You can see the latest screens of the mainhalls in the first post. You can also download the latest mainhall packs that include these changes.

Re: Orion Style Mainhalls [NEW BETA THREAD]

Re: Orion Style Mainhalls [NEW BETA THREAD]

what would be cool though it's probably a code issue, but proper panning of sound in the mainhalls. e.g. a door more or less in the middle should sound like its opening up in front of you and not way off to the left or right. at least that is a problem i seem to be having